England and White told to ‘draw a line’ over feud to get defender back into team

Ben White is too good of a defender to not be playing for England with both parties told to settle their differences.

That is the view of Three Lions icon Sol Campbell, who has declared the Arsenal star is one of the best right-backs in world football.

White hasn’t featured for England since leaving the camp during the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

In the last two years, he has made himself unavailable for selection, with interim boss Lee Carsley insisting that remains the case.

As a result, Carsley recently stated White wasn’t in his thinking for the October international break, where England will face Greece and Finland in the Nations League.

But Campbell is desperate to see White gain a recall, though he has stressed it could prove to be problematic having been out of the picture for so long.

Campbell was speaking to talkSPORT correspondent Ben Jacobs at the Thinking Football Summit in Porto, where he sent a plea to White, England and the FA.

He said: “When I look at Ben White – how do you integrate him back into the fold?

“He is one of the best right backs in that position now, young, he’s playing really well, how do you get him back in?

“How do you bridge the gap with the fans? How do you patch that up?

“It’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ He is one of the best guys in that position. Yeah, they may already be winning, but White is playing top football.

“Deep down, he’s a man that wants to play for England, but obviously something happened before.

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“But with many things, if you allow things to drag on from the previous management to the new management – then that’s not the best way to do it.

“Draw a line [under it], be a man and move on to the next, because he is a top player and you want the best players to play for England.”

White has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top full-backs since swapping Brighton for Arsenal in 2021.

Having played the 2021/22 season as a centre-back, Mikel Arteta shifted him off to the right-side of defence to accommodate William Saliba’s introduction into the backline.

And it’s a position he has thrived in, making the right-back spot his own, where he has forged a brilliant relationship with winger Bukayo Saka.

White will be in action for Arsenal on Sunday in the north London derby where he will be looking to keep Tottenham skipper Son Heung-min quiet.

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